MAKING BOURBON

Eight Steps to Make Sourmash Bourbon

1. Farming

Farming is the first step in whiskey making. Today, we grow all of the corn and rye right here at the distillery. In years past, most of our corn came from my uncle Dud Humphrey's farm.

Snowbelt of northeast Ohio

test text spot

115 Acres

We rotate grain with beans

This is Rick, our farmer.

Rye fields

Rye, really close

Corn early in the season

Bean field

Two wells and five natural springs.

And one artesian well that draws from a limestone aquifer.

2. Prepare Grains

To Prepare Grain for whiskey-making, we mill whole kernels of corn and rye grains to a rough grist, perfected for bourbon.

Loading the corn bin

Milling corn to a fine grist

3. Sourmash

The sour mash process is uniquely American. We cook grain, water and backset to convert starch to sugar. We fill the mash tun with 700 gallons of water from our deep artesian well, about 150 gallons of backset (from the prior distillation), and about 1,500 pounds of grain.

1,000 Gallon Mash Tun 2018

500 Gallon Mash Tun 2014

2010 Mash Tun 250 Gallons

This was our first mash tun, which came from the original Michter's Distillery in Schafferstown, PA. In 2015 we sold this to the new Michter's in Louisville, KY.

4. Fermentation

Fermentation forms new flavors and alcohol from yeast and wild bacterial. Currently, we ferment in 1,000-gallon stainless steel tanks. In prior years, we fermented in open wood vats.